The $330 million state-of-the-art facility is the centerpiece of Purolator’s five-year growth and innovation strategy to help customers get more packages to their destinations quickly, safely and reliably
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TORONTO, Aug. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ – Today, Purolator officially opened its new 443,084-sq-ft National Hub – the largest and most technologically advanced sortation facility in its network. Strategically located near several major highways in Toronto, the National Hub triples the capacity of Purolator’s former Ontario sortation facility and increases its network capabilities through new world-class automation and advanced scanning and sorting technology.
“For over 60 years, Canadians from coast to coast have depended on Purolator. Following the sharp rise in e-commerce and two years of unprecedented growth, the new state-of-the-art National Hub is opening at a crucial time,” said John Ferguson, President and CEO, Purolator. “Pivoting off our history of innovation, our investment in this infrastructure and new technology is a game-changer. It provides greater flexibility to quickly move goods across the country to enable businesses and services in all sectors of the economy to thrive.”
Purolator leveraged best-in-class international learnings from global benchmarking trips in the construction of its new National Hub, which broke ground in May 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic. When operating at full capacity, it will process up to 70,000 parcels per hour, tripling the capacity of the previous facility. The new hub also includes innovative technology that can unload a trailer in under 10 minutes or up to 12,000 parcels per hour – 10 times the amount possible through manual efforts.
The National Hub marks a shift away from a standardized sortation model to a more tailored approach that uses state-of-the-art technology to segment parcels by size, weight, and dimension. “Innovation drives every business decision we make, and this is especially true as we work to modernize Purolator’s extensive network,” added Ferguson. “We can now increase our responsiveness and dramatically scale up or down to meet the need for industry-specific solutions and the demand for time-sensitive express shipments.”
In designing the National Hub, Purolator was committed to prioritizing employee health and safety. The company integrated global industry best practices and technology, increased safety features, such as guard rails and sensors, and installed ergonomic equipment to reduce the risk of physical injury. Amenities also include a dedicated multi-faith space, a 6,500 sq-ft cafeteria and patio, a much larger wellness room and a training centre that is double the size of the previous location.
Quick facts:
- The site is strategically located near Highways 401, 407, 427 and 27.
- The National Hub is twice as large as any other sortation facility in Purolator’s network; it provides a safe, first-class environment for the facility’s 1,000 employees.
- Canada’s retail e-commerce sales hit $95.02 billion in 2021 (Source: eMarketer, June 2022).
- Over the past two years, Purolator has seen an overall volume increase of almost 15 per cent with a 40 per cent increase in retail e-commerce volume.
- This peak shipping season, Purolator anticipates it will again process over 1.5 million packages a day throughout its busiest week (beginning Cyber Monday, Nov. 28).
For more information on Purolator’s five-year growth and innovation strategy, visit purolator.com/ nationalhub.
About Purolator
Purolator Inc. is Canada’s leading integrated freight, package and logistics solutions provider. Celebrating over 60 years of delivering its customers’ promises, Purolator continues to expand its reach and renowned service levels and reliability to more people, more businesses and more places across the country and around the world. Purolator is proud of its Canadian heritage and is focused on sustainably positioning itself for future growth and success. Purolator is also committed to contributing to the well-being of the communities it serves and where more than 14,000 of its employees live, work and play.
SOURCE Purolator Inc.
